I am too tired to post anything coherently. With the death threats, it’s been a bit crazy. I can assure all of you that I will not be intimidated. I will also say that I think it’s time to spend some time with Ray Price.

Also, I want to express my sincere appreciation for those of you defending me. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate your support.

Comments (111)

I should be working, but, instead, I’ve spent the last half hour trying to compose a post that truly expresses my respect for your courage, Erik, and my disgust for how the nutters have responded to your initial post. Thanks for having the courage to speak the truth…

The shit you’re going through is completely inexcusable. These people have no shame whatsoever. I wish you the best and hope that this doesn’t materially impact your life more than it already has. You and the rest of the LGM crew do great work.

Keep doing what you do best. Your posts are great–the very fact that they’re causing a brouhaha only means you’re reaching a wider audience. It’s more effective to reach those whose minds you can truly enlighten, rather than the already “converted.”

[…] Tuesday night, in a blog post that continued this theme, Professor Loomis was still attempting to shift responsibility for the controversy onto his critics: “I am too tired to post anything coherently. With the death threats, it’s been a bit […]

Just realized that my first comment was anonymous, which sort of undermines the whole solidarity thing, so I’ll just re-state: “I think I’ve only commented at this blog like twice, but I just wanted to say that this pile-on is bullshit, and Erik Loomis did absolutely nothing wrong. I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with this right-wing frenzy.”

Please don’t get buffaloed (Western slang for hitting someone with a pistol barrel) over the imagery Professor Loomis used to describe the potential fate of Wayne LaPierre. Prof. Loomis’ audience, being pretty civil, was as outraged as he at the events in Newtown CT and the callous disregard for human life displayed by the NRA in the person of its President, Mr. LaPierre. Every other mass shooting has resulted in the NRA blaming everyone but America’s ridiculous gun laws – it’s the video games, it’s no prayer in schools, it’s secular humanism, it’s, it’s, it’s…

Well, it’s time to call for action in all areas of endeavor. If we fall into the trap of evenhandedness for the sake of avoiding an argument, then we condone all the gun murders to come.

In reading the villianous tweets by Erik Loomis, as well as his whining about how he’s being persecuted after openly calling for the death of another individual, I can only hope that he actually attempts to actuate his words.

Metaphor my hind foot. You, Erik Loomis are a coward and a LIAR. you run your trap because you can’t control your emotions and then you lie and call it a metaphor so as to escape the consequences of your words.
you’re a piece of work and an excellent example of why I will NEVER relenquish my right to own a firearm.
you can’t even be trusted to control your tongue. Why should one expect you to control your actions?

I’ve had a hard time explaining to people the need for tenure – thanks for handling that for me!

Obviously, you have my complete support through the skullduggery happening now. My first thought was that you should start using arcane, old 19th century phrases to keep yourself out of trouble, but then I realized that you did! I think perhaps you should start writing these really upsetting posts in Latin – then they’d have to look it up first!

I also agree with your comment (made earlier) about the lack of decent terms and phrases that don’t fall into the violence trap. Similar talks happening on a feminist page I read. We are products of our environment, good and bad. Thankfully, we have environmental historians like you out there…

Sorry for what you are going through. Personally I keep all my political opinions to myself, because I don’t have tenure. I don’t even have a degree yet. I will depend on faculty members for recommendations for the most crucial part of my career (a tenure-track position – congrats!). I attend religious services, in secret, because most of my department is anti-religious and would think me stupider for attending a religious service. I don’t discuss politics because people who disagree with the “group think” at my university are not debated, but merely silenced, written off as “stupid”, and for me, denied future academic opportunities.

This shall pass for you, and perhaps you can tweet with a little more humility, if not for the sake of the people attacking you, but for the sake of those who are silenced every day on campus …

I appreciate your CV. You’ve lived in a variety of places, not Ivy league. We need more of that.

I don’t what the right wingers are so upset about. People should be given a wide latitude in their speech, regardless of position. They unfortunately seem to be fostering a political strategy of feigning outrage. Benghazi comes to mind.

I sent this to your administration, but I couldn’t find your email so I could copy you:

“Dear Dean Brownell, Provost DeHays, and President Dooley,

“I read Erik Loomis’s comment on Wayne LaPierre before the eruption of manufactured outrage on the far-right political fringe, and, as any sane person would, I understood it to be neither a threat nor a call to violence. It was an expression of Mr. Loomis’s opinion that LaPierre is a loathsome, despicable rabble-rouser. Mr. Loomis has a right in this country to express that opinion, which moreover is a statement of actual fact, inasmuch as LaPierre is a loathsome, despicable rabble-rouser. Please respect Mr. Loomis’s right to express his opinion, and in the spirit of academic freedom, please honor his right to state the truth.”